Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children/The Violence Project

Children focus on a learning activity at the WITF “Back to School Bash” event on August 11, 2019, at the Clipper Magazine Stadium, Lancaster, Pa. Photo by Joanne Cassaro. A Ready, Set, Explore educational event is scheduled for Saturday, August 17, 2019, in Harrisburg, Pa. RSVP to “Explore the Magic of Learning with Princess Presto.”

What to look for on Smart Talk, Thursday, August 15, 2019:

The needs of each child are unique and vary based on factors like home life, household income and education level.

Programs across the state are working to identify and address the unique needs of Pennsylvania’s kids.

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is a statewide, independent, non-partisan and non-profit organization. It works to advocate for the health, education and well-being of children in the commonwealth.

For example, PPC encouraged state legislators to make kids a top priority in their latest budget.Governor Wolf signed the 2019-20 budget into law on June 28 and it includes increases for early learning, K-12 educations and health care programs that benefit children.

Also, mass shooters from the past 50 years all have four commonalities. That’s according to The Violence Project — a think tank that has assembled comprehensive research on mass shootings in America. The project is partially funded by the National Institute of Justice and includes a thorough database of more than 150 mass shootings dating back to 1966.

What shooters have in common are they all experienced childhood trauma, had an identifible crisis point before the shooting, studied the actions of other shooters and had a means to carry out their plans.

Researchers examine not only the background of the shooter but every aspect of their personal history, relationships, the community, and the social climate where the events occurred. Their findings are then disseminated and evaluated for policies and prevention strategies.